EDMONTON, Alberta — The tie was just a little loose, the collar a little open, the bags under the eyes a little deeper and darker.

And no one could blame Rangers coach Alain Vigneault for feeling a little worn out after what transpired over a few hours in the Western Canadian prairie lands, culminating in a 3-1 win over the Oilers at the sparkling new Rogers Place on Sunday night.

“We had to grind it out, grease it out,” Vigneault said, just jumbling all the hockey talk he could into describing what might have been a little ugly but was a game that kept this four-game road trip going with a second straight win on back-to-back nights.

And Vigneault was worn out because he screamed himself hoarse all night, having to mix and match 11 forwards, losing both Chris Kreider (upper-body) and Pavel Buchnevich (back spasms) just before the game to unexpected and seemingly out-of-nowhere injuries. Vigneault then had to dress seven defenseman as the lone healthy player on the trip was blueliner Adam Clendening — who then didn’t play at all.

With backup goalie Antti Raanta making 38 saves his fifth start of the season, the Rangers (12-4-0) somehow found a way to stave off Connor McDavid and the Oilers (9-6-1) and push themselves just over the finish line.

“We knew it was going to be a game where we were going to have to grind it out,” alternate captain Derek Stepan said. “We did some really good things defensively. Our goaltender was rock solid when we weren’t just as defensively sharp, and we scored on our opportunities. That’s just finding ways to win.”

Michael Grabner (left) and Derek Stepan celebrate after a first-period goal Sunday in the Rangers’ 3-1 win over the Oilers.AP

Besides the injuries, it wasn’t too different from what transpired in Calgary on Saturday night, when the Rangers went out to a 4-0 lead and then just sat back and the Flames attacked, holding on for a 4-1 win. This time, they were led by Michael Grabner, who scored 1:20 into the game to take a 1-0 lead, then scored on a breakaway at 14:35 of the second period to make it 3-1, the two biggest goals of the night.

“It’s a tough back-to-back, then losing a guy, but everyone stepped up,” said Grabner, who now has 10 goals on the season, more than the nine he scored in 80 games for the Maple Leafs last year. “Everyone battled out there. It was a tough game for us, and it’s obviously a big win.”

It was in question as the third period started, and the Rangers had just finished the second up 3-1 but looking very close to having nothing left in the tank. Yet they fought a battle of attrition and chipped the puck out, chased it when they had any semblance of juice in their legs, blocked shots — and had Raanta when the going got tough.

“It’s nice to play when the team is playing like that,” Raanta said. “Everyone knew Edmonton is coming hard tonight, and everyone put everything that they had.”

Things got a little shaky at the end of the first, just after Dan Girardi got his third goal of the season off his skate to make it 2-0. The Oilers answered when Andrej Sekera deflected a great centering feed from McDavid to cut the Rangers’ lead to 2-1 going into the second.

“This is a situation we can lean on,” Stepan said. “We have to find a way to be better. Early in the season, you always try to say you want to get better each night, and this is an opportunity for us to learn from.”

The question now looms how the Rangers are going to fill out their roster when the trip continues Tuesday in Vancouver, with the finale in Columbus on Friday. But Vigneault and his team will cross that bridge when they come to it, just as they did Sunday in getting themselves two more points.

“You never want to see a teammate go down, but everyone has to step up and everyone has to pull a little more rope,” Stepan said. “Greasy road win, found a way to grind it out, and got it done.”